Underoath Move On And Hope That Fans Follow

06/20/06 6:00pm

by Shehzaad Jiwani (CHARTattack)

Underoath's new Define The Great Line album innovates within the dead husk that's the screamo scene. It's louder and angrier, with less choruses than their breakthrough, 2004's They're Only Chasing Safety, and they can't be bothered if it alienates their newer fans.

"It might alienate some of the fans who liked some of the poppier songs on that last record, but we don't even like some of the songs on the last record," says vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, dismissing thoughts of pandering to the younger Warped Tour crowd. "We don't really think about that. If you can't be happy playing it, then what's the point?

"Regardless of making people mad, that's not something we want to do. That's not our goal by any means. But if you're not happy and honest with your music, no one's gonna give a crap about it.

"That honesty shines through on the new album. Lead track "In Regards To Myself" signifies a bolder, ballsier band, sending the album flying out of the gate.

"It wasn't like we sat down and said, 'Let's go heavier,'" Chamberlain clarifies. "We just wanted to write something that we're going to have a little bit more fun playing.

"If you think about playing the style on the last record for two years, you don't want to do that again and get bored again. We just wanted to push ourselves on a musical level, to where at practice we just weren't getting it, and people had to stop [playing] because it was challenging. In doing that, it turned out way heavier."

"It's more just like a subconscious thing," adds guitarist Tim McTague. "Everyone really wanted it.

"It wasn't like when the songs were finished we had a 10-point checklist to see if it had everything. It just happened. I think we all knew we wanted to go in that direction of doing more and having a lot more to give in terms of the music."

Unlike other bands who've taken desperate measures to distance themselves from the screamo/hardcore scene, Underoath embrace it. Instead of shying away from their status as one of the genre's biggest bands, they want to influence kids in a positive, nurturing way.

"I think the scene we're in is where we're at and we're happy," states McTague. "With Warped Tour, the kids are awesome, but I think there's a lot in this scene that kids at our shows don't know about.

"I was watching Radiohead last night and I was thinking about all the kids who are in our scene, thinking that some of the bands that we tour with, or us, that we're the greatest band ever to these kids. And I'm watching this band and thinking, 'How can anyone even think that about what we do?'"

"We just want to open people's minds to that, to make them more open than to just one specific area of music," explains Chamberlain.

"The way I look at it," McTague continues. "We're just going to go and play.

"And if this is the scene that embraces us, that's cool. But why not take all these kids who may have never heard of all these bands over here that we think are inspiring and the greatest musicians, and try to bring them into their scenes, just to bridge a little gap.

"There's so much more outside of MuchMusic and Fuse. Just because we're there, it doesn't mean we're bitter, but there's so much more to music than this watered down scene."